UNC Hate Crime Report was False

UPDATE: The story I reported early this morning has been revealed to be false. I should have listened to my gut before posting it.

A UNC-Chapel Hill freshman who told police he was attacked by a man who burned his hand and called him an anti-gay slur made a false report, the university says. In a message just released to the campus community, Chancellor Holden Thorp says: "The Department of Public Safety has determined that the alleged aggravated assault reported to campus last night did not occur. That report, filed with campus police on April 5, was false. The University will not report it as a hate crime." "It is important to recognize that incidents of harassment do occur," Thorp continued. "When they do, we take them seriously. We strive to foster a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment at Carolina.

ORIGINAL POST

A University of North Carolina freshman was attacked last week by a man he says severely burned his wrist with an unknown object.

As the freshman took a walk on South Campus at about 3 a.m. on April 4, he said he ran into an acquaintance on the Craige Residence Hall footbridge. As the two spoke, a man sitting at a nearby picnic table stood up and grabbed him by the wrist, he said. “Here’s a taste of hell you f—-ing fag,” Matney remembered the man saying. The man branded Matney, who is gay, on the left wrist with an unidentified object, causing third- and fourth-degree burns that damaged three nerves and a tendon, leaving the freshman with no feeling in his thumb and limited mobility in his index finger, he said.

The attacked student says he escaped after punching his assailant. UNC plans to report the attack as a hate crime to the federal government.